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| Railroads hiring 80,000 over next six years |
| 2004-04-30 |
| Even more good economic news via the rails following up the post I made earlier this year. The nation’s freight railroads are seeing a rise in business and expect to hire more than 80,000 new workers over the next six years, the Association of American Railroads said yesterday. The rail industry, which employed 221,000 workers at the end of last year, has a work force that is significantly older than the United States as a whole. About 40 percent are expected to retire over the next decade. Retirements are surging, partly as a result of legislation enacted in 2002 that lowers the age workers can retire with full benefits from 62 to 60 with 30 years of experience. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., for example, is recruiting for conductor trainees Monday and Tuesday in the Ramada Inn in Washington, Pa. It also is hiring in Altoona, Conway and Harrisburg,[PA,] spokesman Rudy Husband said yesterday. Husband said Norfolk Southern alone expected to hire about 2,000 people this year, most of them in primary train service positions. NS recruiters are looking for electricians, machinists and conductors. The average salary at large Class 1 railroads was $61,895 last year, the association said. Maintenance workers typically earned $48,853 while conductors averaged $67,128. Locomotive engineers earned an average of $76,162, peaking at about $110,000. Although railroad workers enjoy competitive pay, their work can be physically demanding and is often performed outdoors. Schedules must accommodate 24-hour operations. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #1 If fuel costs continue to rise look for the railroads to win back even more freight business from the trucking industry. With the newer high horsepower locomotives and the abilty of a small crew to move large loads of freight long distances in comparision to trucks this is almost a no brainer. This is a trend that has been building ever since the intermodal system really came into its own. |
| Posted by: cheaderhead 2004-04-30 11:58:45 AM |